Friday, 2 October 2009

Pattern Ladies

First prints of the vintage sewing pattern ladies have turned out well! I've printed bags, book covers and small purses, and if I ignore all the kitchen unpacking that still has to happen and sew instead, I'll have them in the shop by Monday. Seems perfectly possible!

I'm still trying to make up my mind about the 'ghostliness' of some of the prints. I struggle to print large areas of flat colour with lino blocks, so I'm considering reworking some of these silhouettes into something like line drawings. But on the other hand, this texture is what I like about block printing, and perhaps it's just a matter of printing in the right colours.

What do you think? (And is it just me, or do different colours of silkscreen ink smell different?)

These are gorgeous! I bought some striped fabric a couple of weeks ago which i have been meaning to print on - your lovely pattern ladies have reinspired me. I like the 'ghostliness' - it goes with the 'vintaginess' of the ladies. I've had no success with lino printing on fabric - I can't get ink coverage anything like as uniform as yours which drives me nuts because I really enjoy the lino process on paper. Anyway, these are great!

I love the 'ghostliness' of the prints. It makes it look as thought the vintage ladies were materializing and examining the new fabrics and wondering what it would have been like to have been made out of them. Love your work!